MUSI UN3321

All the stuff you'd expect to learn in MT3, i.e. functional chromatic harmony.

Average for music theory: weekly assignment, midterm, final.

We did one Schubert-style waltz and a final project consisting of whatever we wanted to do. Very light.

Surprisingly light with sporadic composition-based homework assignments (none of those endless exercises from Diatonic). Midterm / Final change up a bit with a bit of in-class analysis, take home composition (Fugue, Chopin-esque piano piece) and longer piece analysis (Fugue, Sonata). So-called required (but rarely attended) Friday sections by TA Victoria to go over take-home work; focused mostly on midterm/final preparation with one-on-one sessions. Other than that, it's just getting involved in class discussion.

Light. 1 assignment per week, midterm, and final. Participation and attendance are also factored in and could hurt your grade if you don't go to class. Generally, Fabien accepts late homeworks, no problem.

To a student interested in music theory, yes.

Utterly reasonable. Assignments after most classes - usually exercises from the book or stemming from a phrase constructed in class, some reading, some listening. Nothing terribly strenuous. The midterm and final both involve composing pieces demonstrating usages learned in class - lots of fun. He doesn't generally grade assignments - he corrects them so you can see your mistakes, but the homework itself is usually completion only. Again, very reasonable. No busy work.

I learned about modal mixture, ternary and sonata form, and about strategies for composition.

Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. Voss has no personality and this comes across in his teaching. Everything about him is the embodiment of the word 'neutral'. He provides no incentive to come to class (attendance is not factored into your grade) and does little else in class than correct assignments. If you can keep yourself from falling asleep, you'll find that he has a very thorough knowledge of his material and presents everything clearly and effectively. He has no wit or humor and this makes every interaction with him stilted and boring. Despite his stiff demeanor, you will come to realize that he is very laid back. I don't get the impression that he cares any more about the class than his students do, which is unfortunate. He could teach a great theory class if he wanted to. Like all theory teachers, he is meticulous with his grading and pretty harsh. Even with effort, don't expect to come out of the class with anything higher than a B+.

Once you figure him out, you'll come to realize that you can get more out of his course than you might have initially thought. He is a rather shy fellow, so sometimes conversations are a little awkward. However, he is quite obviously a brilliant man who knows countless interesting facts about whatever score you hand him, so go to class and participate in discussions about the music you're analyzing. You WILL become better at analysis. There's no work involved in this course, so simply sit back, let him play each piece for you a couple hundred times, and appreciate the music (and the course itself) for what it is.